Early Life
His father, James Joyce, was a New Zealander who moved to Australia to study veterinary science at the University of Sydney, where he met Barnaby's mother, Marie, and they made their living as farmers.
Barnaby Joyce was born in Tamworth, New South Wales, and was brought up at Woolbrook. One of six children from a sheep-and-cattle farming family, he attended St Ignatius' College, Riverview, in Sydney.
Joyce graduated with a commerce degree from the University of New England in Armidale, and served in the Australian Army Reserve from 1994 to 1999. At university Joyce met his wife, Natalie, and they married in 1993. After graduating, Joyce moved around northern New South Wales and Queensland, and at one point worked as a bouncer. Joyce worked in the accounting profession before entering Parliament and is an FCPA (Fellow of CPA Australia). The Joyces have four daughters and now live in St George in western Queensland, where Joyce had an accounting business.
A Roman Catholic, Joyce served as President of the St George branch of the Society of St Vincent de Paul 1998–2004.
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